Summary: Rick and Janet Cronk were interviewed by Nancie Sherman on March 27, 2009. Rick grew up in Montclair and Janet in Palo Alto. They met when they were both students at Berkeley. Later they moved to Lafayette and raised their family here, and Rick spent thirty years growing Dreyers into the largest ice cream […]
Oral History: Robi Duncan — April 3rd, 2009
Summary: Robi Duncan, Senior Clerk at the old Lafayette Library, was interviewed by Mary McCosker on April 3, 2009. Robi grew up in Concord, but she had spent three months living with her grandmother in Lafayette, and going to school here, while her family was building a new home. She returned to serve the Lafayette […]
Oral History: Dorothy Walker — October 13th, 2009
Summary: Dorothy Walker was interviewed by Brenda Hepler on October 13, 2009. She had grown up in San Rafael, where libraries played an important role in her childhood. After her family moved to Lafayette in 1956 Dorothy went to Acalanes High School and then to UC Berkeley, where she became a teacher and stayed on […]
Oral History: Sally Bellenger — January 22nd, 2008
Summary: Sally Bellenger was interviewed by Nancy Sherman on January 22, 2008, during the time that construction of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center was under way. She arrived in Lafayette in 1971, choosing the community for its good schools and its values. In this interview Sally describes how a group of dedicated and hard […]
Oral History: Ann Meredith — November 5th, 2008
Summary: Ann was interviewed by Brenda Hepler on November 5, 2008. As the City of Lafayette’s Community Development Director, she was closely involved with the Library Project from 2001 onward. She played a major role in the selection and acquisition of the building site, the selection of the architect, creation of the consortium, development of […]
Oral History: Diane Kisner — May 14th, 2008
Summary: Diane Kisner was interviewed by Pat Riegg on May 14, 2008. As the co-founder and head of the Merriewood Children’s Center, which offered a variety of pre-school and after school programs, Diane was an important figure in the field of early childhood education in Lafayette. From the start she was an enthusiastic supporter of […]
Oral History: Anna Koch — May 27th, 2008
Summary: Anna Koch was interviewed by Brenda Hepler on May 27, 2008. She was born and raised in San Francisco, and became interested in reading and in going to the library at a very young age. After high school she enrolled in a library technology program and worked in a library part-time instead of pursuing […]
Oral History: Tony Coe — October 7th, 2009
Tony Coe was interviewed by Bob Riegg on October 7, 2009. As engineering services manager for the City of Lafayette, Tony was responsible for preparing the construction bid documents and assembling a team to represent the City during the construction process. He describes being proud of the library that this community is creating, and notes […]
Oral History: Maria Hjelm — May 29th, 2009
Maria Hjelm was interviewed by Brenda Heppler on May 29th, 2009. She joined the Friends of the Lafayette Library Board soon after arriving in the city in 2003. She took over management of the very popular literary speakers program, known as Sweet Thursdays. Maria also managed the library’s relationships with its Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium […]
Oral History: Hilma Jones — February 3rd, 2009
Hilma Jones was interviewed on February 3rd, 2009, by Brenda Heppler. Soon after Hilma and her husband moved to Lafayette in 1982 she began actively volunteering in the local schools. She remembers that the members of her family rarely visited the small library that served Lafayette at that time. In the late 1990’s when a […]
